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Thursday, February 11, 2016

Why is Lent 40 days long?

Then
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to
Him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Jesus
answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word
that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Matthew 4:1-4 (NLT)

The 40 days of
Lent reflect the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing Himself
for ministry.

Jesus was alone
with God in prayer and fasting. No distractions. It reinforced Jesus’
dependence on God alone, hyper-aligned His purpose to God’s will, and strengthened
His spirit for the mission ahead.

While I’m sure
these 40 days were grueling, Jesus emerged with laser focus. In response to
every temptation, Jesus whips out the sword of scripture to fend off the
attack.

Could the next 6 weeks be the same for you?

Will you expose all your shortcomings and accepting
God’s forgiveness?

Will you intentionally spend time in prayer aligning
your life to His will, renewing your dedication to His purpose, and believing
He will fully equip you?

Will you emerge refreshed and laser focused?

Here’s an
interesting note about the 40 days of Lent. There are actually 44 calendar days
between Ash Wednesday and Easter. “Why?” you ask. The Jewish Sabbath is
Saturday, but when Jesus rose on a Sunday, his followers moved the Sabbath to
Sunday and declared every Sunday a day of celebration, a mini-Easter with no
fasting. Therefore, only 6 days per week count toward the 40 day total. And now
you know….